LeBrun: Oilers in on Nyquist/Donskoi/Connolly

TFHockey

The CEO of 7-8-0
May 16, 2014
7,061
4,456
Edmonton
Nurse has definitely improved and getting better.

Larsson bounces back

Bouchard helps the PP halfway through the season when he makes his debut.

Klefbom can only get better from last year( down year ), our defense core gets into the top 16 if barely.


Bringing in a 50 plus point man who can think the game well, and adds more hockey sense to our top 6 and isn't slow makes the Oilers better then lugging 10 point man Lucic around at 6 mill.


Goaltending yes is a question mark, but then again plenty of teams around the league have this issue going in every year.

Grab a decent bottom 6 forward for Puljujarvi or go after Burakovsky,

adding speed demon Nygard to improve team quickness and this team all of a sudden looks more capable

1. Very likely.
2. Likely.
3. Possible but I'd say he gets a look but stays in the AHL this year.
4. Likely.
5. Nice thought.
6. Totally a question mark. Holland stated flatly they're getting a goalie.
7. I'd take a chance on Burakovsky.
8. Adding Nygard?
 

LMFAO

Registered User
May 20, 2010
5,501
2,935
Bank on Brandon Manning being buried, clearing up another million. I'd imagine Brodziak will be buried as well (he was horrawful last year) which would clear up another million.

Jujhar Khaira will be signed, but not to much more than what he's making now. Call him and Brodziak a saw off, salary wise.

Out of the necessity for cheap contracts I'd guess three Condors get promoted. Two forwards, one defenceman.

I think we see Russell traded this summer for picks/futures, maybe with a bit of retention.

Assuming we did sign one of Nyquist/Donskoi/Connolly, we'd probably be looking at something like this to start the year:

Draisaitl-McDavid-Kassian
Benson-RNH-Nyquist/Donskoi/Connolly
Lucic-Haas-Gagner
Nygard-Cave-Khaira
Gambardella/Currie/P. Russell/Carr/Ennis/Camp job winner/whatever

Klefbom-Larsson
Nurse-Sekera
Jones/Lagesson-Benning
Persson

Koskinen
Mrazek/McElhinney/Smith

I don't think it's a playoff team, but it's an upgrade over what we already have.

I think Khaira will get tradded for Connor Brown this summer.
 

ManofSteel55

Registered User
Aug 15, 2013
31,863
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Sylvan Lake, Alberta
But do any of those players have an interest in playing in Edmonton?

Why wouldn't they? They might earn a spot in the pylon spot on one of the best lines in hockey (McDavid - Draisaitl - Pylon has been great the past two years).

I've been advocating for Donskoi for months now. I hope we can get him and Connolly. I suspect Nyquist will go for more that the Oilers can afford.
 

ManofSteel55

Registered User
Aug 15, 2013
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Sylvan Lake, Alberta
What I'm saying is that a UFA may consider more than money when choosing his destination. These players may see an organization (the Oilers) whose team is not ready to be competitive for a couple of years, at least, and that has cap problems and several holes in the lineup. In addition, who knows how Holland will do? His final years in Detroit did not inspire confidence. Furthermore, I don't think that the appeal of playing with McDavid trumps all those other concerns/questions.

This team is very similar to the team that nearly went to the Western Final two years ago. We're a goalie and a middle six winger away from basically having that same roster. The Oil had too many underperformers last season, but there is rebound potential in there for sure.
 

NernieBichols

Registered User
Aug 8, 2011
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At $5.5M to $6.0M they can have him, Nyquist isn't worth that kind of money.
Yeah but the new GM of a team looking for a winger who can maximize his icetime with McDavid. That’s a need and importance that Holland is facing as Oilers GM, that as red wing GM, nyquist wasn’t an impact enough player to warrant a long term contract while the wings were entering a rebuild
 

LMFAO

Registered User
May 20, 2010
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...why ? Textbook win - win trade for both team. Edmonton desperately needs some skilled winger. Brown could very well be the perfect 3rd wheel for McDrai.

Toronto saves a bit of cap space and desperately needs more size and grit up front.
 

Zenos

Registered User
Oct 4, 2009
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This team is very similar to the team that nearly went to the Western Final two years ago. We're a goalie and a middle six winger away from basically having that same roster. The Oil had too many underperformers last season, but there is rebound potential in there for sure.

McDavid and Draisaitl have taken steps forward. As has Nurse. And RNH looks to have "broken out" offensively too.
But they're still short three real top-6 wingers in Maroon and Eberle (neither of which have been replaced) and Lucic who's seemingly lost it completely.
And none of Klefbom, Larsson (was his first oilers season the anomaly or were the last two?), or Sekera have consistently played at that level since. And then you had lighting in a bottle guys like Letestu, who was huge on special teams.
Oh, and a 41 Win starting goalie!

Sorry, not here to rain on anyone's parade (summer is our time as oilers fans), but the current squad is a looooong way off from topping that 2017 team.
 

BB88

Registered User
Jan 19, 2015
40,796
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Nurse has definitely improved and getting better.

Larsson bounces back

Bouchard helps the PP halfway through the season when he makes his debut.

Klefbom can only get better from last year( down year ), our defense core gets into the top 16 if barely.


Bringing in a 50 plus point man who can think the game well, and adds more hockey sense to our top 6 and isn't slow makes the Oilers better then lugging 10 point man Lucic around at 6 mill.


Goaltending yes is a question mark, but then again plenty of teams around the league have this issue going in every year.

Grab a decent bottom 6 forward for Puljujarvi or go after Burakovsky,

adding speed demon Nygard to improve team quickness and this team all of a sudden looks more capable

So you are just betting all of them to improve and no one take a step back, Drai& RNH especially.
They've been also very lucky to have the top4 forwards healthy constantly, which I doubt continues to forever.

I fail to see how 1 non elite addition suddenly makes them a quaranteed playoff team.
 

greasysnapper

Registered User
Apr 6, 2018
2,588
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Nyquist will want & get too much money so that isn't a serious conversation IMO.

I think this might be a great year for teams signing ufas of Nyquists ilk. The cap crunch and a few higher profile ufas who are a tier above Nyquist are going to make it harder for a player such as this to get a big pay day. Wouldn't be surprised if the Nyquist signing this year, to whomever signs him, has great value.
 

JackFr

Registered User
Jun 18, 2010
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To their credit these are exactly the three players they should be pursuing. On reasonable deals any of these would be very strong pickups.
 

seroes

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May 3, 2016
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The irony of this being in a free agent thread...
Hmmmm...not seeing the irony. Let me rephrase. The oilers should not bring in anyone without finding ways to clear the multiple bad contracts they already have. Once contracts are off the books, then they should begin looking free agents.
 

Seachd

Registered User
Mar 16, 2002
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Hmmmm...not seeing the irony. Let me rephrase. The oilers should not bring in anyone without finding ways to clear the multiple bad contracts they already have. Once contracts are off the books, then they should begin looking free agents.

Why? There aren’t any players in free agency worth breaking the bank for.

What’s the difference between clearing cap space then filling it, and filling it then trying to clear some?
 

Toronto makebeleifs

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Jul 4, 2014
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It makes sense that edm would look at them. Imho Connolly would be the best value option. Might be able to get a decent aav with a 5 yr term. He's depth scoring though. none of those guys are a lock for 25+.
 

seroes

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May 3, 2016
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Why? There aren’t any players in free agency worth breaking the bank for.

What’s the difference between clearing cap space then filling it, and filling it then trying to clear some?

To be honest, I don't think Edmonton even can. It would require giving up either one of their few decent prospects or high picks in the future. puljujärvi isn't gonna cut it anymore.
 

Seachd

Registered User
Mar 16, 2002
24,937
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To be honest, I don't think Edmonton even can. It would require giving up either one of their few decent prospects or high picks in the future. puljujärvi isn't gonna cut it anymore.

If you’re talking about Lucic, I’m pretty sure the Oilers are assuming they’re going into the season with him.
 

majormajor

Registered User
Jun 23, 2018
24,179
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Bank on Brandon Manning being buried, clearing up another million. I'd imagine Brodziak will be buried as well (he was horrawful last year) which would clear up another million.

Jujhar Khaira will be signed, but not to much more than what he's making now. Call him and Brodziak a saw off, salary wise.

Out of the necessity for cheap contracts I'd guess three Condors get promoted. Two forwards, one defenceman.

I think we see Russell traded this summer for picks/futures, maybe with a bit of retention.

Assuming we did sign one of Nyquist/Donskoi/Connolly, we'd probably be looking at something like this to start the year:

Draisaitl-McDavid-Kassian
Benson-RNH-Nyquist/Donskoi/Connolly
Lucic-Haas-Gagner
Nygard-Cave-Khaira
Gambardella/Currie/P. Russell/Carr/Ennis/Camp job winner/whatever

Klefbom-Larsson
Nurse-Sekera
Jones/Lagesson-Benning
Persson

Koskinen
Mrazek/McElhinney/Smith

I don't think it's a playoff team, but it's an upgrade over what we already have.

I think it's worth it to trade a pick/prospect to get Haula out of Vegas. Assuming the same cap clearing moves you did, I think if you go with Donskoi instead of Nyquist there should be cap room for Haula. That's the trouble with Nyquist, the Oilers have too many holes to fill with too little cap room, they need to gamble on value pick ups.
 

snipes

How cold? I’m ice cold.
Dec 28, 2015
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Hmmmm...not seeing the irony. Let me rephrase. The oilers should not bring in anyone without finding ways to clear the multiple bad contracts they already have. Once contracts are off the books, then they should begin looking free agents.

So do nothing now and not try to improve?

...uhh okay
 

wingfan

Registered User
Jul 1, 2012
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Yeah but the new GM of a team looking for a winger who can maximize his icetime with McDavid. That’s a need and importance that Holland is facing as Oilers GM, that as red wing GM, nyquist wasn’t an impact enough player to warrant a long term contract while the wings were entering a rebuild

He was given every opportunity to be the past few years. This past year he played on Larkin's wing basically until the Bert-Larkin-Mantha line started to really turn it on. He's a perimeter pass first player, not the type of player to push a team over the top. He's a serviceable 2nd line winger for the time being but I'd be worried about anything over 3/4 years.. The only current/former Wings still playing I'd want that can actually drive some offense and have the ability to capitalize with McDavid are Mantha(not happening) and Tatar. I honestly think Tatar would look great in that Oilers top 6 and giving up a few assets would be better than overpaying Nyquist..
 
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NernieBichols

Registered User
Aug 8, 2011
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He was given every opportunity to be the past few years. This past year he played on Larkin's wing basically until the Bert-Larkin-Mantha line started to really turn it on. He's a perimeter pass first player, not the type of player to push a team over the top. He's a serviceable 2nd line winger for the time being but I'd be worried about anything over 3/4 years.. The only current/former Wings still playing I'd want that can actually drive some offense and have the ability to capitalize with McDavid are Mantha(not happening) and Tatar. I honestly think Tatar would look great in that Oilers top 6 and giving up a few assets would be better than overpaying Nyquist..
You would definitely know this stuff better. I’m just chiming in on why holland might be willing to pay him now with the oilers, compared to when he traded him while running the wings
 
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